Kurdistan Democratic Party

Humanitarian expert Stafford Clarry was United Nations Security Coordinator during the ‘brother’s war’, an internal armed conflict between competing political factions in Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1990s. Clarry explains the complex dynamic of this difficult period, recalling that in 1995 there were four separate conflicts happening at one time.

Academic Verena Gruber presents three points she believes will be necessary for the Peshmerga military forces in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to unite, breaking the disunity and allegiance to political parties that has prevented foreign allies from providing more robust support to the embattled region.

Colonel Harry Schute (Ret), former chief of staff for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Northern Iraq, illustrates why Ambassador Paul Bremer, notorious CPA leader authorized to rule Iraq by decree, failed to inspire confidence in his own staff or the Iraqis he was tasked to govern.

Colonel Harry Schute (Ret), commander of the U.S. Army 404th Civil Affairs Battalion responsible for the Kurdistan Region during the Second Gulf War, talks about efforts he and his soldiers made to convince U.S. leadership not to attempt to disarm the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters–their close allies in Northern Iraq. This involved bringing two rival factions of the Peshmerga together to work on an influential report that articulated their historical role in the region.